Shane O' Mac Version 2 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015 Would be a little funny if it was Bigfoot and Mir, and also a bit saddening. If 2014 was the year of the injuries, 2015 is shaping up to be the year of the PEDs. Â Wonder if Ellenberger and Koscheck would be willing to bring their fight forward a week? I know it's unlikely, but they could headline a Fight Night without damaging the PPV too much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members lambyUK Posted February 18, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 18, 2015 FWB has heard that two fighters have flunked, but he is not sure who, or if they are attached to this event. A lot of speculation around twitter that Zingano has failed.  Official word is that the tests have not come back yet.  If these rumours are untrue Jim, can we agree never to reference this shit arse again?  However, knowing my luck, it's going to be true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted February 18, 2015 Share Posted February 18, 2015  FWB has heard that two fighters have flunked, but he is not sure who, or if they are attached to this event. A lot of speculation around twitter that Zingano has failed.  Official word is that the tests have not come back yet.  If these rumours are untrue Jim, can we agree never to reference this shit arse again?  However, knowing my luck, it's going to be true.  Deal  If 2 people are not popped in the following week, FWB will not be referenced again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Supremo Posted February 19, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 19, 2015 Both Ronda and Cat have passed their random tests. The main event is a go. Â Here's the Countdown show. It's really good. Â http://youtu.be/jRVNn3RM8O8 Â The thing I most took away from it was that I really want Zingano to win. The story about her husband's suicide is heartbreaking and it'd make for an amazing story for her to win the title. The problem though is that Ronda looks like an absolute beast at the moment. Those throws are a thing of beauty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members ColinBollocks Posted February 20, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 The only person stopping Ronda is Ronda, I feel. If she maintains the hunger to put in the work and improve (like she has been doing so far), despite all the film roles etc, then it's going to take somebody really great to beat her. I know she's a special type of personality (all top athletes have to be), but it must be hard to maintain that focus when you're doing all the extra work Ronda is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members lambyUK Posted February 20, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 I think a lot of people are underestimating Zingano here. Ronda is rightfully the favourite but my gut is telling me that there will be a shock come next weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 20, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 I really like Cat but I can't root against Ronda. I'm not ready to see the Rousey reign end. Even with the story behind Cat, I still want to see Ronda keep crushing opponents for a while. She's like a female Goldberg at the minute. The streak still has some legs yet. Â People might be overlooking Zingano but it's just hard to see how she really beats Ronda other than landing something in a wild exchange. That could happen but it's the 'puncher's chance' thing. That's not enough for me to pick Cat to win. Skill for skill, the only thing I think Cat might be better at is striking. And even that, she's not some elite striker. She's dangerous but she's also reckless at times and gets hit a lot herself. The striking is her best chance to win and I'd say even that's almost a tossup. The grappling is going to be an uphill battle for Zingano. She's good but she's outgunned in a grappling heavy fight IMO. If she struggled with Tate and Nunes, she's in deep shit against Rousey. Â I could certainly see Cat making a better fight of it than anyone has so far. Maybe it goes into the mid-late rounds like the second Tate fight or something, but more competitive. I could see that. I could also see Ronda destroying her within two minutes. I hope it's more of a fight than that but I wouldn't be that shocked. Â I just can't look past Cat's slow starts in her most recent fights when thinking about this one. Miesha had her run ragged for two rounds before she found a way to turn it around. And Amanda Nunes was giving her a bit of a hiding early on as well. There were points I thought the ref was going to stop that one. It says a lot about her that she was able to gut it out and rally back in those fights but both Tate and Nunes are vastly inferior to Rousey. If Rousey gets off to a strong start here, as she has in every other fight in her career, I'm not sure Cat can overcome that. Â We'll see. If she can survive Ronda's initial assault, then we might be in for an early FOTY contender. Â Rousey, submission, round 2 for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melina_mma Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 I think Cat's striking is being over hyped, I honestly don't see it being a problem for Rousey. Espicially when you consider Rousey's last 2 fights have been won by TKO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 20, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 True but neither McMann or Davis are imposing strikers either. McMann is a wrestler, Davis a BJJ artist. Davis actually has some decent Muay Thai but she seems to lack power. McMann seems to have some decent power but lacks striking technique. Â They were both really impressive wins for Ronda. And especially because she was able to shed that 'all she has is the armbar' bollocks. But I'd say Zingano's striking is better than McMann's and more powerful than Davis'. Add to that she has incredible heart and toughness, some solid BJJ...she's a hard matchup for almost anyone. Â I just don't think her grappling will be up to what Ronda can put on her. And her heart, while admirable, mightn't be enough to survive Ronda's initial blitz. Her striking is decent but it's nothing amazing really. I think people look at that TKO of Tate and think she's some striking machine but she's actually more of a grappler at heart. That's her main base. Her ex husband was a BJJ instructor himself. BJJ is where her roots are. Â And as dangerous as she can be with her wild strikes, Ronda has proved effective in the striking herself in her last two fights. And hers were way less wild. Watch the placement of the knee on McMann or the overhand right that rocked Davis. Maybe not perfect technique but very accurate with good power. I'd favour that over the brawling style of Zingano but you never know. If it turns into that kind of fight maybe Cat can land something. Â I would be interested to see how Ronda responds to getting hurt in a fight. I know there was the choke attempt by Carmouche but I'm talking properly cracked/rocked/dropped whatever. For all we know she could completely unravel if she takes a big strike or gets cut or something. I doubt it but it'd be interesting to see her have her 'Jones vs Gustafsson' moment where she's really forced to go to war. Maybe this will be that fight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members lambyUK Posted February 20, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 20, 2015 Again, I think we are underestimating just how well rounded Zingano is. Â Outside of her striking fans seem to not realise she's a 4 time all American and national champion in wrestling. Her jui jitsui I would say is exemplary given the fact she's a world champion in US and Brazilian tournaments too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimufctna24 Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Again, I think we are underestimating just how well rounded Zingano is.  Outside of her striking fans seem to not realise she's a 4 time all American and national champion in wrestling. Her jui jitsui I would say is exemplary given the fact she's a world champion in US and Brazilian tournaments too. Yes. she has impressive credentials. But credentials do not always paint the full picture in MMA. Check who won the wrestling battle between GSP and Koscheck in their 2007 battle, and then compare their credentials.  You can only judge Zingano's ability on what we have seen. Nunes and Tate had her in serious trouble before she rallied. If she allows Rousey such room to operate, I think she will be finished early. Styles indeed make fights. But I am very cynical about the prospect of Zingano being competitive. Overall, I have not seen much in Zingano's game to suggest that she will trouble Ronda.  Nothing against Zingano, but I still feel that Rousey is two levels above the rest of her weightclass. A bit like Royce Gracie in the mid-90's, she is a few years ahead of everyone else (size adjusted) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members lambyUK Posted February 21, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 21, 2015 I'm not necessarily saying Rousey isn't a level above Zingano Jim. Â However you have to remember for the Tate fight that was her Octagon debut and it had an awful lot riding on the fight with a number 1 contender slot and a TUF season. Zingano later admitted she was absolutely terrified and a bag of nerves as she had never been involved in a fight with so much on the line. Â Then Nunes fight she was returning from a huge serious injury lay off so again the nerves and tension would have been high. Â When Zigano has been 'on' she's been incredible. As everyone has rightfully said if she's 'off' at any point against Ronda it will be over in a heartbeat though. Â Basically I can't wait for this fight. Furthermore I can't wait for Holm's debut too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members wandshogun09 Posted February 21, 2015 Author Paid Members Share Posted February 21, 2015 Yeah I'm looking forward to seeing Holm debut as well. Pennington isn't an easy welcome for her despite her shit win-loss record. She's a scrapper and she's got enough of a ground game that hopefully some questions will be answered about Holm's overall game in this one. Â I think Holm wins though. Hopefully she looks spectacular and scores a big KO. The one thing that division is lacking is a knockout striker and Holm has the striking to fill that role, but she'll need to work a ton on her ground game in a grappler heavy division like Women's 135. If she can develop a strong takedown defence she could become a bit of a female Chuck Liddell in that weight class. Â I think she's going to be limited in how far she can go though. She'll be dangerous for anyone if she can get her strikes off on them, but her ground game is pretty much a complete unknown and it's not like she's some 20 year old with bags of time to work on her deficiencies like Paige VanZant. She's 33 now. How much ground can she make up in her grappling? And regardless, she's never catching up to the grappling of the likes of Rousey, McMann, Tate or Zingano. It's a tough division for her really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Egg Shen Posted February 21, 2015 Paid Members Share Posted February 21, 2015 If Holm wins, you think they put her straight in with Rousey? Considering its a co-main slot, im thinking they will. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noah Southworth Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 It's way too soon for Holm to face Rousey and even Holm and her people know it because they don't want the fight at the moment. Not to mention that Holm is a total unknown outside of the hardcores and she needs more exposure than just one PPV for a fight with Rousey to be at its most marketable. And it's only the co-main event because other fights fell through. If Rousey beats Zingano, she'll almost certainly get Correia next because Correia has outright said she doesn't want to fight again till she gets Rousey, which is a fight that has so much backstory to it and is very marketable. In the interim, Holm will get at least one more fight, possibly two depending on whether they back to Tate, which they probably will at some point if only because of the lack of other marketable contenders, and then Holm will get her shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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